Site Logo
Cheechako News file photo from KPC’s Kenai Peninsula Historical Photo Repository Joe Faa, who in 1965 sold 10 acres of his Soldotna homestead as a construction site for a new hospital, poses here in about 1961 with his prize horse Danny. Faa’s horse corral and hay fields are the reason for the name Corral Street in Soldotna.

Life

A hospital is born, slowly (Part 5)

It had been almost five full years since the start of a project to establish a hospital for…

File

Life

Minister’s Message: Love, not efficiency, defines success

Becoming so wrapped up in looking good and even in being good causes us to sacrifice relationships.

This is an early promotional photo of Merrill Mael, an enthusiastic Anchorage radio personality with a Hollywood background. Mael was hired by the Central Kenai Peninsula Hospital Association as its hospital project manager in the fall of 1963. (Photo from www.theradiohistorian.org)

Life

A hospital is born, slowly (Part 4)

Dr. Paul Isaak, Soldotna physician and a founder of the hospital project, believed that centrality of location was…

Nick Varney (file)

Life

Unhinged Alaska: Pondering a new car

I’m a 6-foot-2 hunk of meat who barely fits into the passenger side of her rig unless I…

Photo courtesy of Gloria Wisecarver Dr. Robert Struthers, Kenai’s third resident physician, and Kenai dentist Dr. Charles Bailie converse in Struthers’ office in Kenai in July 1966.

Life

A hospital is born, slowly (Part 3)

All did not go as planned.

Will Morrow (courtesy)

Life

The grass is getting greener

Summer on the Kenai Peninsula is short, and most of my tomorrows have already been spoken for.

Dr. Elmer Gaede, seen here leaning against the Soldotna medical clinic in the mid-1960s, joined the central peninsula medical establishment in July 1961. (Photo courtesy of the Gaede family)

Life

Peninsula History: A hospital is born, slowly (Part 2)

Not far from upper Binkley Street in Soldotna in 1968 stood the unfinished shell of what central peninsula…

Meredith Harber (courtesy)

Life

Minister’s Message: In each, God’s unique gifts

We are all parts of the body, supporting one another in different ways, with our different skills and…

When Dr. Paul Isaak began providing medical service to the Soldotna-Kenai area, his Soldotna Clinic was located near the current site of the Soldotna Fire Department. Here he stands with his airplane and his nurse, Elizabeth Meadows. (Photo courtesy of the Isaak family)

Life

A hospital is born, slowly (Part 1)

The effort required 10 years — a decade rife with financial snafus, contract disputes, bitter in-fighting, and one…

Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)

Life

Life in the Pedestrian Lane: Lost Treasures?

My hard drive is similar to the crawl space under the house.

Nick Varney

Life

Unhinged Alaska: Time to enjoy, not to annoy

I’m already overhearing growing concerns about whether or not the usual influx of tourists to the peninsula will…

Will Morrow (courtesy)

Life

When did I get wise?

When did I turn into that old guy who feels like he has to give everyone else advice?

The entrance to Soldotna Public Library is seen on Thursday, March 25, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Kenai and Soldotna libraries release May event schedule

All events are still being held virtually at the Kenai Community Library.

Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuge Vice President and Outreach Chair Poppy Benson collects litter from the side of the highway at the refuge in Soldotna, Alaska on Friday, April 30, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

News

Spring cleaning

Volunteers turn out to remove refuse from the refuge

Photo from the Culverson Collection, Anchorage Museum of History and Art The Jean Lake shelter cabin in this undated photo belonged originally to a homesteader who gave permission to the Alaska Road Commission to upgrade the structure and use it as part of the overland winter mail route in the early 20th century.

Life

You’ll get mail, Kenai … eventually (Part 2)

This is second part of a two-part story about the early development of mail delivery in Kenai.

This dog team, loaded with mail, was en route between Moose Pass and Kenai, circa 1920s. (Photo courtesy of Jim Taylor.)

Life

You’ve got mail, Kenai … eventually

Receiving mail a century ago in roadless Kenai, Alaska, was no easy matter.

The Brunswick pin setter at the Sky Bowl in Soldotna in June 1960, when Tony Bordenelli set a world record for endurance bowling. (Cheechako News photographs courtesy of the KPC Anthropology Lab Archive)

Life

Tony Bordenelli, the conquering kegler

In the end, he had bowled 1,008 straight games in 79 hours and 45 minutes.

Image courtesy Clark Fair In 1920, two years after the killings in Kenai, William Dawson had a new business partner, Emil Berg. When they witnessed this bill of sale, both men signed their names to the document.

Life

Exerting control in Old Kenai — Part 7

This is the seventh and final installment in a series about two killings that occurred in Kenai on…

Part of the grave marker for Cleveland L. Magill. (Photo courtesy Clark Fair)

Life

Exerting control in Old Kenai — Part 6

The sixth installment in a series about two killings that occurred in Kenai on April 8, 1918.

This headline about the killings in Kenai appeared in the Cordova Daily Times four days after the incident.

Life

Exerting control in Old Kenai — Part 5

The fifth installment in a series about two killings that occurred in Kenai on April 8, 1918